§51. Purpose

The Legislature finds that the public health, safety and welfare is threatened when
land immediately adjacent to farmland is developed for human habitation. This development
and the uses incident to it are inconsistent with various activities commonly engaged
in on farmland, such as the application of agricultural chemicals. The Legislature
declares that the purposes of this chapter are: [1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW).]

1.Health impacts.
To minimize any health or other adverse impacts which common agricultural activities
may have on the occupants of land adjacent to farmland;

[
1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW)
.]

2.Agricultural activities.
To protect the ability of farmers to engage in common agricultural activities with
minimal potential for causing harm to their neighbors;

[
1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW)
.]

3.Full land use.
To permit the owners of both farmland and adjacent land to maintain to the highest
degree possible the full use and enjoyment of their land, but to recognize the importance
of agriculture to the economic and social welfare of the State;

[
1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW)
.]

4.Production capacity.
To conserve agricultural production capacity for present needs and for the future;

[
1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW)
.]

5.Harmony.
To promote harmony between agriculture and adjacent nonfarm development;

[
1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW)
.]

6.Responsibility.
To recognize the mutual responsibility of agricultural operators and persons siting
nonfarm development adjacent to farmland to take steps to accommodate each other's
concerns and the public interest;

[
1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW)
.]

7.Public records.
For purposes of administering this regulatory program, to create in each municipality
and each county registry of deeds a register of farmland which will provide a public
record and enable disclosure to potential buyers of real estate and the public regarding
the existence of active farming operations in the community that may be incompatible
with residential development on lands in the immediate vicinity; and

[
1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW)
.]

8.Distance.
When farmland is registered for the application of agricultural chemicals, to provide
some accommodation for that activity and for adjacent nonfarm developments by distancing
them from each other and by providing a reasonable setback for new residential and
other particularly sensitive types of development from actively used agricultural
land.

[
1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW)
.]

SECTION HISTORY

1989, c. 478, §1 (NEW).

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